Ruling ‘will cause chaos’

Press, 12 February 1982, Page 4

Ruling ‘will cause chaos’

Labour’s Shadow Minister for Constitutional Affairs, Mr G. W. R. Palmer, said yesterday that chaos would result if the Accident Compensation Commission paid private hospitals to treat accident victims. The Accident Compensation scheme would be thrown into chaos and confusion as a result of the decision of the Chief Justice on the payment of private hospital fees for treatment of accident victims, Mr Palmer said. Although in his opinion the decision was legally correct and not worth appealing against, Mr Palmer said that it would have “strange” results, including: ® A clogging of private hospitals and fewer people being treated at public hospitals. ® A big drain on the funds

of the Accident Compensation Corporation. • Accident victims having an advantage over people with diseases. 9 A “bonanza" for private hospitals at public expense. The Government and the corporation will have to act quickly to avoid the misunderstanding, confusion, and expense likely to result,” says Mr Palmer. He suggested the use of two sections of the Accident Compensation Act to get around the decision. Section 111 of the act, which was the subject of the decision, was “subject to any regulations made under this act.” There was power in section' 181 of the act to make regulations “prescribing the circumstances in which, the

event to which, and the method by which the corporation shall, in accordance with section 111 of the act, pay the costs of treatments Mr Palmer said that this provision seemed to enable the old practice of the corporation — of not paying for private hospital treatment — to be reinstated by regulation. ■ It was important for New Zealand’s public hospital system to be protected, but it was also right for the corporation to pay for private hospital treatment of accident victims when treatment at public hospitals was delayed. Any regulations made needed to be flexible enough to allow for both these factors, he said.